The Merry Band
by googlydoo2
Summary: When a group of survivors escape Helgen and venture out into Skyrim they learn quickly that one of them is a hero from a legend well before their time. This group is multiple characters I've played with through out my time in Skyrim. Rated M for Violence and Adult Content.
1. Chapter 1

**So this story is about a collection of some of my favorite play throughs in Skyrim. There will be loads of violence, because Skyrim. There will also be plenty of smut, because I'm a perv. I'll do my best to add a disclaimer in chapters where characters misbehave under the blankets. There's also a good chance I'll add horror elements, which I will also try to add disclaimers for.**

 **Hope anyone who reads it enjoys! Leave a comment if you think there's something I can do better on!**

* * *

The tunnels under Helgen were shaking and shuddering. Standing over the corpse of a massive bear was Suratus Manius, an Imperial with a large iron greatsword buried in the giant beast, scratches rent through his looted Imperial steel armor. Running a gauntleted hand over his head he slid the long hair on top of his head back, the close shaven back and sides lightly bleeding from a few scratches. His dark blue eyes fell on to the quartet running up behind him. One was a big blonde Nord named Ralof. He'd helped them all get through the fort relatively unharmed and seemed like a decent enough man, even if he did cast a wary glance at the Imperial every now and then.

The other three were women, one Wood Elf, one Orc and one Nord. The Nord had bright red hair and carried a sword similar to Suratus's, though her armor was nothing like his preferred kind. She was covered, and barely so, in thick, heavy furs, wearing just enough to preserve her modesty. She looked very much like she was imitating the Reachmen to the northwest, but Suratus didn't tell her so. Imsel Heavy-Hand was her name and she was well suited to it.

The Orc, Yazzash Mogdgarz, was just the opposite. Heavily armored but she wielded two weapons, a pair of iron swords in each hand. The short mohawk on her head and thick fangs coming out of the bottom of her teeth made her look fierce, when she wanted to. She was typically quite agreeable, though.

Last was the Wood Elf, Tynu'riel, and she was small, even by Bosmer standards. Barely coming up to Suratus's shoulders, she was dressed in fairly humble robes and wore shoes and gloves instead of gauntlets or boots. She was no priestess of Mara or Kyne or anything like that but everyone in the group found her to be an excellent Restoration mage, however it did take some convincing to get her to lend a hand when swords were clashing and arrows were flying. Ralof had tried to shout some courage into her but it took Imsel grabbing her by the hand and dragging her through the caves to get the terrified little elf to do anything.

"Nice take down." Yazzash praised, crossing her arms. She was clearly not amused that he'd taken the kill for himself.

"There is sure to be plenty more before the day is done." Suratus replied, grabbing the hilt of his blade with both hands and pulling it out of the bear's carcass. Imsel immediately set to work skinning it, causing Tynu'riel to gag. The Nord smirked up at her and continued at a slow pace. Suratus sighed and knelt down on the other side of the bear to help skin it faster. "Don't be a child. She tended our wounds."

"She's just so scared of everything." Imsel retorted, smirking wickedly at Tynu'riel who had glanced over to protest only to dry heave at the sight of the two of them cutting the fur and fat from the bear. "What kind of person learns healing spells but faints when a man's head is cut off in front of her?"

"The kind used to a soft life of tending to the sick." Yazzash replied and looked back at the Bosmer. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. Violence may scare you but you do good work for people."

"Well, I try, at any rate..." Tynu'riel replied as she walked up, keeping her eyes away from the bear's carcass as she strode past the group to see a little further down the cave.

"Well could you try harder, maybe?" Imsel asked in an annoyed tone. "That spider venom stings."

"Alright, that was your fault." Suratus said with a laugh. Imsel set her dagger down and placed her fists on her hips expectantly. "Don't look at me like that. You're the one who ran out from behind my ward before we were close enough."

"You were going to slow!" Imsel snapped, thrusting her fingers at the Imperial so the bear's blood speckled his face. Imsel cackled but immediately recoiled when Suratus through a large chunk of stinking bear fat at her.

"She has a point, you know." Yazzash added, kneeling down and watching the two of them finish the bear's pelt off. "That big ward is very impressive, but it slows you down a lot."

"It also happens to soak up a lot more punishment than a regular one." Suratus butted in, handing the pelt over to Imsel who snatched it greedily and grinned at what would soon be some new armor, once it was properly tanned.

"Whatever you say, valorous knight." Imsel said facetiously. "Let's get out of this damn cave already."

Suratus ignored the jibe and jogged ahead, taking place next to Yazzash at the head of the group. When they saw light up ahead the whole party ran toward it. Tynu'riel let tears of relief flow freely from her face, causing Imsel to groan loudly while Yazzash marched down the road to see where they were.

"Wait!" Ralof called and ducked behind a near by bolder. The others followed suit, diving behind any piece of terrain they could find and watched as the massive black serpent flew overhead. Once the coast was clear, the blonde Nord turned to the others and invited them all to Riverwood to rest and supply themselves. The promise of food was impossible for Imsel to ignore, Yazzash and Suratus both needed to visit the forge, desperately, and Tynu'riel was never going to travel by herself, especially out here where she knew nothing and no one.

* * *

"Well, this is... nice." Suratus said as they entered the village. The Imperial was a Cyrodil native and was used to large castles, towering walls and things of that nature. That being said, he did like the open scenery, although the view of the giant crypt at the top of the near by mountain was rather off putting.

"It has what we need." Yazzash replied and pressed ahead to the smith. Suratus followed suit while Imsel followed Ralof to meet his sister and then enjoy whatever food she thought she'd been promised. Tynu'riel sighed and looked over at a two story cabin with a trader's sign out front.

"The Riverwood Trader." She said to herself, smiling at the simplistic name and pushed the door open. She was immediately greeted by the sound of the two owners bickering. They were so engulfed in their argument that they'd completely missed Tynu'riel's entrance. Or it could have been her tiny frame that masked her entrance, which was just as likely. Rather than interrupt, she began looking through the various potions and spell tomes that were on display until the man behind the counter jumped in surprise.

"Bah, when did you get in here?" He demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Tynu'riel who jumped herself and backed against the bookshelf.

"I..." She stammered, looking back and forth between the two. "I came in through the front door. Only just now."

"By the Eight, Lucan, you startled her." The woman outside the counter said and came up to Tynu'riel, grabbing her by the hand. "Please forgive my brother. We're both rather stressed right now."

"Did you see the dragon?" Tynu'riel asked, thinking that must surely have been the cause for their panic, though the rest of the town seemed unaffected.

"What?" Lucan replied and then shrugged. "You've been here before, I take it." Before Tynu'riel could respond the man went on about some golden claw that he believed she'd seen before and how it had been stolen by thieves who headed to the barrow on the mountain. "Say, I've got some coin coming in from my last shipment. It's yours if you bring my claw back. If you're going after those thieves, you should head to Bleak Falls Barrow, northeast of town."

"Well, I just..." Tynu'riel began before the sister cut her off.

"This is your plan, Lucan?" She demanded, clearly disappointed.

"Yes, so now you don't have to go, do you?" He snapped. He clearly didn't think his sister would return alive if she went after this golden claw and Tynu'riel couldn't help butthink he was right.

"Oh really? Well I think our new helper needs a guide."

"Oh by the Eight, Camilla! Fine, but only to the edge of town."

Camilla pulled Tynu'riel outside the shop, excited as could be. Tynu'riel's mouth was gaping as she tried to form the words but the shopkeeper's eyes were practically alight and each time she tried to speak the Wood Elf felt terrible for thinking of disappointing her. Suratus watched the display with piqued interest and tossed what gold he'd picked up and handed over the Imperial armor to the smith, thanking him and tightening the straps on his unblemished steel armor.

"Tynu'riel!" He called out, causing Camilla to stop and turn curiously. "Leaving so soon? Who is your new friend?"

"Her name is Camilla..." Tynu'riel replied and looked up at Suratus with almost pleading eyes which caused the warrior to raise an eyebrow.

"My brother and I tend the Riverwood Trader." Camilla replied, beaming at Suratus. "And Tynu'riel, was it? She's getting a golden claw trinket back from a bunch of thieves for us."

"Is she, now?" Suratus asked with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest. "I knew Imsel was wrong about you. How does Tynu'riel the Steadfast sound?"

"This isn't funny!" Tynu'riel shouted, catching a surprised look from Camilla, thought Suratus had expected the reaction. The elf turned to Camilla with an apologetic look on her face and almost came to tears. "I'm sorry, Camilla, but I'm no adventurer. I got swept up in your conversation and before I could even say that I wasn't up to such a task you had brought me out here."

"So you won't be going after the thieves, then?" Camilla asked, letting go of Tynu'riel's hand and casting her eyes to the ground.

"Nonsense!" Yazzash shouted as she approached with a grin, wrapping one thick arm around the Bosmer's neck and another around the Imperial's. Camilla stepped back, surprised by the growing group. "She just won't be doing it alone, will ya, dumpling?"

"Dumpling?" Tynu'riel demanded, glaring up at the Orc who merely chuckled at the unamused response. The elf looked over at Camilla who had renewed hope in her eyes and sighed, nodding her head. "Yes, we'll retrieve the claw for you."

"Oh, you're all simply wonderful." Camilla replied ecstatically, leaning forward and kissing each of them on the cheek. Tynu'riel turned bright red which only widened the smirks on Suratus's and Yazzash's faces. "But you must know, one hundred septims is all we can afford to pay for the job, no matter how many people do it."

"Hmm..." Suratus mused, pulling out of Yazzash's grip, which allowed fer her to continue picking on Tynu'riel. "One hundred septims and another peck on the cheek and we'll call it fair." He offered with a wink.

"Very well." Camilla replied with a laugh. "I wish you all the best of luck. Now I've got a boring shop to tend to. Do be careful, all of you!"

"Oh we will." Yazzasg called back, letting Tynu'riel go. The Bosmer immediately began fixing her golden lockes, glaring daggers at the two armored beings next to her. "Oh, we're just havin' some fun with you. I'll lighten up if you want."

Tynu'riel made to respond but closed her mouth, realizing that Yazzash was acting much like a big sister to her. The thought was more comforting than annoying and so she said nothing as Imsel approached the group.

"Coming to join us in tracking down some thieves?" Tynu'riel asked, placing her hands on her hips. "There's 25 septims in it if we split it four ways."

"And a kiss." Suratus added, raising a finger and receiving a punch on the arm from Yazzash.

"Well, that all sounds fun, but I can't." The red headed Nord replied with an exaggerated shrug. "Ralof's sister asked me to head to Whiterun and warn the Jarl about the attack on Helgen. I figure the Jarl will reward me for news like that with something pretty nice."

"Maybe a big new sword." Suratus offered.

"Or a prettier mug." Yazzash replied with a laugh.

"Yazzash!" Tynu'riel scolded, causing all three of the others to cackle.

"We'll see when I get there." Imsel replied, placing a hand on Tynu'riel's head and ruffling her hair. The Bosmer groaned and pushed the Nord's hand away and set about fixing her hair once more. "When you're done with this quest of yours, you should all come to Whiterun. It's just around this mountain, dominating the plains below."

"We'll see you there." Suratus replied. He didn't speak for anyone but himself, but no one seemed to find the idea disagreeable. With that Imsel gave everyone in the group a fairly crushing hug and began running toward the city of Whiterun. Suratus turned back and looked up the mountain with a grin. "Well then... Shall we, my friends?"

"Let's make some thieves pay." Yazzash said with a dark chuckle.

"And make two nice siblings very happy." Tynu'riel offered, receiving laughs from the other two. "What?! What's so funny?"


	2. Chapter 2

The trek up the mountain wasn't particularly difficult but Tynu'riel found herself having to stop to catch her breath twice when she was wearing the lightest clothing of the three of them. Yazzash had an impatient look about her but she didn't say anything to the little Bosmer and Suratus didn't actually seem to mind. Once she felt herself rejuvenated she stood up and stretched for a second.

"So you do things like this all the time?" She asked, taking note of the slowly building soreness in her feet. "I mean, you walk up mountains all the time?"

"I don't." Suratus replied, hooking his thumbs into his belt and walking alongside the Wood Elf, a few paces behind Yazzash. "Most of my adventuring is done in ruins, though. Lots of ups and downs in them."

"Orsinium is a mountainous nation." Yazzash replied with a shrug. "Plenty of opportunity to get better at hiking long trails, though this isn't much of a mountain by comparison. And we're going relatively slow."

"And good thing, too." Suratus stated, stealing one last glance down at Riverwood before the town disappeared behind the gatherings of rocks and foliage. "Wouldn't want to over do it getting up the hill when we're heading straight for a bandit gathering."

"Bandits?" Tynu'riel asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice. "I thought they said thieves had stolen this golden claw."

"Bandits are a lot of things, Tyn." Suratus informed her in a very serious tone. "And thieves is counted among those things."

"Some people also call them murderers and rapists." Yazzash spat. "But I prefer cowards, personally. Seems to suit them more."

"How do you know they're bandits and not just a couple thieves, though?" The Wood Elf asked. It was clear to the others that Tynu'riel, in her naivety, had honestly not expected there to be violence on this little quest.

"Experience." The Orc grumbled as they came to a set of stairs. She held a hand up, signalling for everyone to stop. "Bandits typically hold themselves up inside of ruins and old fortresses to keep from being run down by guards."

Suratus nodded and moved in front of Yazzash, pulling his greatsword from his back and setting it gently on his shoulder to avoid making to much noise. Tynu'riel hid herself against the wall adjacent to the stairs and watched as the pair of them slowly moved upward. Once they reached the top they both charged off, Yazzash heading left and Suratus to the right. Several panicked voices could be heard shortly thereafter as the bandits above tried to gain control of the situation. A wet slash and a grunt of pain made Tynu'riel feel a bit dizzy but she did her best not to think about the scene that was happening above.

A thud, followed immediately by a wet cracking drew her attention behind her as a bandit with a massive slash across his gut hit the ground behind the Bosmer. Tynu'riel covered her mouth and ran up the steps, immediately regretting the decision as an arrow struck the pillar right next to her head. With a panicked squeak she fell to the ground and crawled backward against the wall.

Suratus kicked a bandit he'd impaled off his blade, taking Lorkhan's name in vain as an arrow skimmed off the pauldron of his steel armor. He and Yazzash charged the bandits as one and were a terrifying sight to behold. The Imperial brought his great iron blade straight through one bandit's hide shield, taking part of his forearm with it. Yazzash, on the other hand was busy hacking her way through another bandit without any sign of tiring. Tynu'riel sprinted to catch up to the two of them but screamed as a bandit that had come from the other set of stairs grabbed her and slammed her against the pillar behind her. The bandit raised his steel dagger into the air to plunge it into the cowering Restoration mage but was immediately dropped by an ironsword sticking through his ribs from under the arm.

Tynu'riel ripped her eyes to the right to see Yazzash stomping over toward her with only one of her blades. Spitting on the bandit she ripped her sword out of him and looked up at Tynu'riel.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, her angry glare replaced by an almost sibling like look of concern.

"No, I-" Tynu'riel began, cringing as Suratus cleaved the last bandit from shoulder to belly button and then shoved him onto the ground. "I'm fine."

"Be more careful of how close you follow us, Tyn." Suratus said, turning toward the elf with a similar look on his face. The Bosmer smiled at the both of them and nodded. "That being said, if he'd found you at the bottom of those steps we likely would have lost you."

"And we can't let that happen." Yazzash replied, grabbing Tynu'riel and ruffling her hair. A few spatters of blood stuck to the elf's cheek which made her cringe but she didn't push away from the big Orc. "Especially on your first quest!"

"I'll be more careful in the future." She replied when Yazzash finally let her go.

"Excellent." Suratus said, clapping his exposed palms together. "Yazz, shall we see what lies beyond this door?"

"By that do you mean you can't move it by yourself?" The Orc teased, giving him a hard elbow in the ribs. The Imperial chuckled but didn't answer as he placed his shoulder against the door on the right. Yazzash took her place on the same door just behind him and they both grunted with effort as they tried to shove the door open. Tynu'riel ran up behind the two of them and gave it a push of her own just as the door began budging open. Once the entrance was large enough for one of them to fit inside at a time Suratus entered, his blade held in a guard. Yazzash followed behind him and Tynu'riel came in swiftly behind her. The two continued walking forward until the Bosmer made a low hissing sound to get their attention. Though she was no thief or marksman Tynu'riel had excellent natural vision and could make out a pair of bandits standing by a fire just ahead.

"Do you see them up ahead?" She asked, pointing in the direction of the vagabonds. Straining to see the two heavily armored warriors finally nodded and smirked at Tynu'riel proudly.

"Sharp eye, dumpling." Yazzash praised, ignoring the jabbing glance Tynu'riel gave in response to the repeated use of the nickname. She turned to Suratus who gave her a solemn nod and then moved as quietly as he could to a pillar near the fire. Once the orc joined him the pair charged into the bandit duo and cut them down before either could draw their weapons. Tynu'riel chased up after them, doing her best not to look at the corpses as she approached the others.

Suratus stabbed his massive blade into the slit of a nearby chest, right where the lid met the container itself. With a heavy exhale he put all his weight into a prying motion and broke the chest open, falling on to the ground with a loud clamor. Yazzash chuckled at the display and then looked inside the chest expectantly.

"Healing potion." She said, pulling it out and handing it to Tynu'riel who took it with an unsure look in her eyes. "If we get hurt you can heal us. If you get hurt we can't heal you. Now then... Oh, some arrows. Now if only one of us used a bow. I swear, bandits keep the stupidest things in chests sometimes."

"Any gold?" Suratus asked as he finished dusting himself off. "Even split three ways we could stand to make a health sum in this place. Enough for food, loding and maybe a drink, at the least."

"Nope, no gold." Yazzash replied with a sigh. "There's sure to be something of value down here, though."

"Plus that claw was worth one hundred septims." Tynu'riel piped up. "Thirty three gold is more than enough for everything you mentioned."

"You keep those numbers to yourself." Suratus said with a smirk. Tynu'riel shrugged at his response, not seeing that he was making fun of himself and simply followed the others down further into the barrow.

* * *

The dark, wet, stinking ruins were starting to make Tynu'riel feel claustrophobic. The fact that her friends were spattered with bandit and skeever blood didn't help, but they were the ones that were getting dirty, mostly, and they weren't complaining so the Bosmer decided she'd suffer in silence. A voice called out, naming names and apologizing for something. It was too muffled to make out clearly, even with all the echoing in the halls of the barrow. The reason why was soon apparent when the group found a thick wall of webbing covering their advance.

"Well, that's a good sign." Suratus said with a hint of sarcasm. Yazzash scoffed and crossed her arms, staring at the webbing. Suratus skewered the web with his iron greatsword and scythed up to the top of the doorway, then to either side. Tynu'riel, who'd been holding a torch she'd found on the way down, stepped forward and burned much of the webbing away. "Ah, thanks." The Imperial replied before stepping into the big open room.

"Who's that?" Yazzash asked, stepping into the room and pointing to someone caught in another door covering web, still very much alive."

"No one we'll know, I'd wager." Tynu'riel replied, matter-of-factly. As she tried to make out the man's features a shadow cast over him. Tynu'riel looked up and gasped, covering her mouth as a mammoth sized spider slowly descended from a hole in the ceiling. "Stendarr's Mercy, I didn't know they got that big..."

"This one won't be getting any bigger." Yazzash assured the elf with a grin as she charged at the spider, wailing like a banshee. Suratus let out a war cry of his own, his deeper voice bouncing off the walls and combining with Yazzash's to make it sound like there were a lot more people in the room. The spider reared up on its four hind legs and swung those limbs spastically. Yazzash was caught by one and thrown to the side, hitting a wall and having the wind knocked out of her. Suratus took the opening and shoved his greatsword into the exposed belly of the giant spider. Before he could pull the blade up, through the giant bug it lunged forward, pinning the Imperial down with one of its front legs and tried to impale him with its massive fangs. Suratus grabbed hold of the poisonous spears, holding the spider back for dear life as it pressed down harder and harder on him.

Just as the weight of the spider was becoming too much for the Imperial Yazzash was back on her feet and hacked one of the spider's back legs off. The spider hissed and slipped backwards, hitting the ground and forcing the greatsword further into its body. With a piercing shriek, the spider pulled away from the Imperial and backed up. The dunmer ensnared behind it began screaming as the thing backed up toward him with half of a blade sticking out its back. Thinking on her feet Tynu'riel took her torch and bashed the trapdoor under the spider, right on its hinge. The metal screeched and the spider's wait forced the doors open. Realizing all too late that it had met its fate the spider lunged forward, trying to grab the wood elf and drag her into the pit with it. Tynu'riel screamed and fell to a crouch, covering her head. When nothing happened she slowly opened her eyes to see a severed spider limb on the ground. A heavy thud let everyone know that the giant monster had finally given up trying to hold itself up and fell to the bottom, where the greatsword was shoved deeper into the massive spider, killing it.

"Don't think you'll be getting that blade back, friend." Yazzash stated, wiping some sweat from her brow.

"It wasn't the best blade I've ever owned, anyways." He said with an exhausted smirk. The orc chuckled and walked over to the dunmer who was still stuck while Tynu'riel took hold of Suratus's hands. "What are you doing?"

"That spider's venom was coming off of its fangs like a waterfall, Suratus." The Bosmer stated as restoaration magic began glowing against his hands. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"Actually I don't feel a thing." He replied with a hint of concern in his voice. "I don't feel anything at all. Must've been a frostbite spider. Good thing you're so proactive, Tyn."

The wood elf beamed happily at the praise but jumped when Yazzash bellowed angrily. She watched in shock as Yazzash ran further into the barrow. Tynu'riel and Suratus walked carefully around the massive hole in the floor and quickly chased after the two of them. They came to a halt and Suratus yanked Tynu'riel behind him when they saw Yazzash being backed up by two armed figures skulking toward her.

"Draugr." Suratus said to Tynu'riel, giving her a gentle shove further back.


End file.
